By It boiled down to “velocity” and being “creative”
- by Ben Kerry
When whispers of a handheld Xbox console initially started circulating some time ago, it became clear that Microsoft was collaborating with Asus on a ‘partner’ gadget (now referred to as ROG Xbox Ally), as well as on its very own first-party handheld akin to current home consoles. As development on both began to advance, Microsoft chose to fully commit to the partner device and “shelve” its internal initiatives – a decision Xbox President Sarah Bond has elaborated on further.
In a recent discussion with Variety, the Xbox executive provided more insight into why they opted to focus solely on collaborating with Asus for a handheld at this time, rather than pursuing both devices. Bond stated, “we could collaborate much faster, and in a significantly more innovative manner” than if Microsoft was operating independently – likely owing to Asus’s expertise in the sector and its existing ROG Ally product series.
“[We created ROG Xbox Ally] to fundamentally enhance the experience and elevate it to the next tier in a fashion that we could achieve collaboratively much more swiftly, and in a significantly more creative way, than we could [independently] with our respective projects,”
The speed argument is coherent to us; it would have required Xbox considerably more time to launch its dedicated handheld – facing extensive R&D expenditures, production logistics, shipping nuances, and all the accompanying details to navigate. Asus already possessed numerous elements in position, along with a foundation to build upon in its existing ROG Ally devices. As for the creative aspect, we remain a bit uncertain.
Naturally, it’s also a particularly challenging market to maneuver through at this moment – which clarifies both the pricing of the ROG Xbox Ally systems, and Microsoft’s ongoing price hikes for Xbox Series X|S. We’ll have to observe what transpires with the next generation and whether conditions will stabilize somewhat by that time, but it undoubtedly poses a risk to develop and launch a major product into the market currently – and we’d bet that this influenced Xbox’s choice as well.
Do you wish Xbox had continued pursuing this? Share your thoughts on its handheld aspirations below.
[source variety.com]
Ben is a News Writer at Pure Xbox, and enjoys action, racing, and straightforward shooting in any Xbox game he can access. When he’s not gripping an Xbox controller as though his life depends on it, Ben spends his time enjoying music that’s far too old for him, watching football on television, and likely dining somewhere.